Correction: Well, I managed to make a pig’s ear of when the fixtures are going to be taking place, thanks largely in part to being foolish enough to believe what the Prva Liga put on their website. The fact is, the rest of the fixtures aren’t all on Saturday, in fact they’re all over the shop. So that’s me told.
There’ve been another three rounds that have bundled past since the last post. With the title within stroking distance, Maribor managed to throw points away left, right and centre. Round 27 saw three draws as only Mura 05 and Olimpija managed to chalk up wins in the pursuit of second place:
Round 27:
Luka Koper 2:2 Maribor
Gorica 1:1 Triglav
Celje 1:3 Mura 05
Nafta 1:1 Rudar
Olimpija 2:0 Domžale
Olimpija’s win over Domžale was a pretty workmanlike effort, they huffed and puffed and managed to wrap the game up, but no one manages to put points on the board with the ease that the Viola seem to manage. This is something that someone needs to work out how to do next season, and Olimpija seem to be the most likely in terms of resources and raw potential. Maribor’s draw away to Koper could have had some significance if the season was still in its spring, but there’s too much daylight now, dead-rubbers aplenty are on the way for Maribor. It wasn’t too shocking in round 28 when Gorica repeated the trick that Koper had pulled off, and managed to stop Maribor scoring.
Round 28:
Luka Koper 3:1 Mura 05
Gorica 0:0 Maribor
Domžale 1:1 Rudar
Celje 1:2 Olimpija
Nafta 1:2 Triglav
The highlights of this round were away from the top two. It’s great to see Triglav taking four points from two matches. Their win over Nafta kept them in touch and means that the automatic relegation spot is nowhere near being a foregone conclusion. It’s also very interesting to see that Koper have thrown themselves back into contention for the European spots. The club from the coast have been an impotent force for much of this season, but they’ve been putting some good results together to find themselves up in fourth place after their surprise win away at Olimpija in round 29:
Round 29:
Maribor 6:0 Nafta
Celje 0:2 Domžale
Triglav 1:5 Rudar
Mura 0:1 Gorica
Olimpija 0:1 Koper
After my opening contrition, round 30’s matches do all take place on a Saturday, this Saturday, in fact. The tie of the round should be the second versus third encounter between Gorica and Olimpija, but I have a feeling that Koper’s clash with Celje and Nafta’s with Mura might be where the entertainment is to be found.
Round 30 (all times CET)
Saturday 14th April, 2012
Luka Koper v. Celje (17:00)
Rudar v. Maribor (18:00)
Nafta v. Mura 05 (18:00)
Domžale v. Triglav (20:00)
Gorica v. Olimpija (20:00)
Due to a trip to see Laibach at the Tate Modern with my slovenka, I’ll not be watching any of the games live, but it’s kind of tenuously related enough to feel like a reasonable excuse.
| Position | Team | Played | Points |
| 1. | Maribor | 29 | 66 |
| 2. | Olimpija Ljubljana | 29 | 49 |
| 3. | Gorica | 29 | 47 |
| 4. | Luka Koper | 29 | 44 |
| 5. | Mura 05 | 29 | 44 |
| 6. | Rudar | 29 | 39 |
| 7. | Domžale | 29 | 36 |
| 8. | Celje | 29 | 31 |
| 9. | Nafta | 29 | 24 |
| 10. | Triglav Kranj | 29 | 20 |
Goli Gol (the Naked Goal) 
Mura’s performance this season is perhaps the most impressive – gaining promotion by default after Aluminij (serial 2. liga table toppers, who wisely refuse to take the step up to the first) and someone else refused, it’s really great they’ve put a decent team together … Prekmurje being a bit of a football hotbed despite it’s small size. The only match I saw down that end of the “Chicken” was Nafta v Gorica at the Beltinci ground, before Nafta sorted out their own “top-flight” stadium – it’d be good if they stay up, too.
Yeah, I have to agree, Mura have been very impressive. I was surprised to see three teams (especially as they included the supposedly fairly wealthy Interblock among them) turn down the opportunity to go up last year. Perhaps quite a worrying statement about the risks of taking that step. That said, it’s great to see Mura doing what they’re doing – Europe next season? They certainly appear to have some pretty passionate supporters.